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May 1, 2024 | Bava Metziah 63
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as I resolve the mishna in accordance with his opinion, expressed in the baraitot he edited.,Rava explains: As Rabbi Oshaya teaches in a baraita: One was owed one hundred dinars by another, and he went and stood by the other鈥檚 granary and said: Give me my money, as I wish to buy wheat with it, and the other said to him: I have wheat in my granary that I will give you; go and calculate for me the amount to which you are entitled at the current market rate. When the time to sell wheat arrived, the lender said to him: Give me wheat, as I want to sell it and acquire wine with the money received for it. The borrower said to him: I have wine that I will give you; go and calculate for me the amount of wine to which you are entitled at the current market rate.,The baraita continues: Then the time to sell wine arrived, and the lender said to the borrower: Give me my wine, as I want to sell it and acquire oil with the money received for it. The borrower said to him: I have oil that I will give you; go and calculate for me the amount of oil to which you are entitled at the current market rate. With regard to all such cases, if the borrower has wine and oil, the transaction is permitted, as this is a proper sale. But if he does not have these items it is forbidden. Since he cannot give him the merchandise at the current moment, if its value appreciates in the interim he is considered to have paid an additional sum for the delay of the repayment of the debt. Rava concludes his explanation: And what is the meaning in the mishna of: Acquired? It means that he acquired it as payment for his loan.,Rava said: Conclude from this baraita of Rabbi Oshaya three halakhot: Conclude from it that one may establish repayment of a loan upon produce, meaning that a borrower can promise to pay the lender in produce over the course of a year, based on the market rate at the beginning of the year, and we do not say that this is like a case where his issar has not already come into his possession, as Rabbi 岣yya said in the baraita on the previous amud. Since he owns produce it is as though he has provided it at the present time, and the current lack of payment is not significant. Accordingly, one can conclude from it another halakha, that this practice is permitted provided that he has produce in his possession. And further conclude from it that the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yannai.,This is as Rabbi Yannai says: What difference is it to me if he referred to the produce, and what difference is it to me if he referred to the produce鈥檚 value? If he stipulated that he would receive a certain amount of produce, he can later take its value in money rather than the produce itself without violating the prohibition of interest.,As it was stated that amora鈥檌m disagreed about this issue: Rav says that one may make an arrangement of trust with regard to the delivery of items such as produce, i.e., one may loan the money in advance with the agreement that he will be repaid with produce at a later date, but one may not make an arrangement of trust with regard to money, i.e., one may not loan the money in advance with the agreement that he will receive the value of the produce at a later date, as this has the appearance of collecting interest. And Rabbi Yannai says: What difference is it to me if the agreement concerned the produce, and what difference is it to me if it concerned the produce鈥檚 value? Just as the lender can take the produce and sell it himself, he can likewise accept the value of the produce directly.,The Gemara raises an objection against Rav鈥檚 opinion from the above baraita: With regard to all of them, if the borrower has the items in his possession, it is permitted, apparently even if he actually pays with something else. Rav Huna says that Rav says: That baraita is stated with regard to a case where the lender pulled the produce itself, thereby performing an act of acquisition. The Gemara questions Rav Huna鈥檚 statement: If he pulled the produce, does it need to be said? After all, there was a proper act of acquisition. Rather, the baraita is discussing a case where the borrower designated a corner for the lender in which to place the produce that he acquired. For the purposes of this halakha, such an action is sufficient.,And Shmuel said: In accordance with whose opinion is this baraita, which permits the practice if the borrower is in possession of such produce? It is in accordance with that of Rabbi Yehuda, who said that uncertain interest, a transaction that may or may not result in the payment of interest, is permitted. Rabbi Yehuda holds that if at the time of the loan it was not certain that the agreement would result in the paying of interest, then even if it is so that if specific circumstances were to develop there would be interest paid according to the agreement, the transaction is permitted.,As it is taught in a baraita: If one was owed one hundred dinars by another, and the borrower performed a sale of his field for him in order to repay the one hundred dinars, if they agreed that the seller, i.e., the borrower, consumes the produce of the field until the debt is repaid, this is certainly permitted, but if the buyer, i.e., the lender, consumes the produce, it is prohibited, as he is in effect taking the produce as interest while awaiting the payment that he is owed. Rabbi Yehuda says: Even if the buyer consumes the produce, it is permitted.,The tanna relates: Rabbi Yehuda said to the Sages: An incident occurred involving Baitos ben Zunin, who performed a sale of his field on the basis of a directive from Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, and that was a case where the buyer consumed the produce. The Sages said to the tanna: Will you bring a proof from there? The reverse was the case: It was the seller, not the buyer, who consumed the produce.,The Gemara asks: What is the difference in opinion between the first tanna and Rabbi Yehuda? Abaye said: The difference between them concerns the halakha of uncertain interest. According to the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, if it is uncertain that a transaction will ultimately involve the payment of interest, it is permitted. Rava said: The difference between them involves the status of interest taken on the condition that it be given back. Rava maintains that Rabbi Yehuda did not mean that the lender can consume the produce without payment, as he must repay the amount he ate if the borrower pays off his debt. The first tanna rules that since the sale is not yet final, his consumption of the produce constitutes interest.,Rava said: Now that Rabbi Yannai is saying
that we say: What difference is it to me if he referred to the produce, and what difference is it to me if he referred to the produce鈥檚 value, meaning that we do not require the payment to be in the form of the produce stipulated, we therefore also say: What difference is it to me if he referred to the produce鈥檚 value, and what difference is it to me if he referred to the produce, and therefore one may set a price by the market rate. And this is permitted even though he does not have produce at the present moment. Since he could purchase it if he wished it is considered as though he had the produce in his possession, and therefore one may make an agreement with another to provide him with produce at a later date in accordance with the current price.,Rav Pappa, and Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, raised an objection to the opinion of Rava from the aforementioned baraita, which explicitly teaches: With regard to all of them, if he has the produce in his possession, the transaction is permitted, and if he does not have it, the transaction is prohibited. Rava said to them: The tanna there is referring to a transaction for the repayment of the debt conducted after a loan has been given but before it has been repaid, whereas here Rabbi Yannai is dealing with an actual sale, without any loan at all, and therefore there is no interest involved.,Rabba and Rav Yosef both say: What is the reason that the Sages said one may set a price by the market rate and that one may do so even though he does not have the produce in his possession? Because the buyer says to the seller: Your favor is taken and thrown on the thorns. In other words, I am deriving no benefit from my transaction with you, as how have you helped me? If I had money in my hands I would buy the produce myself in the towns of Hini and Shili, nearby market towns, at an inexpensive price. Consequently, the acquisition of produce at the current market rate is of no benefit to him.,Abaye said to Rav Yosef: But if that is so, according to this same logic it should be permitted to lend a se鈥檃 of produce for a se鈥檃 of the same produce, as the lender can say to the borrower: Your favor is taken and thrown on the thorns, since he says to him: I stand to gain nothing from the se鈥檃 you will later give me, as the price of my wheat would increase if it were to remain in my granary, and therefore the loan does not benefit me at all, for will the wheat burn in my warehouse [be鈥檃kalbai]? Rav Yosef said to him: The two cases are different, as there it is referring to a loan, and consequently there is a concern about interest, whereas here it is a sale.,Adda bar Abba said to Rava: But with regard to establishing the repayment of the loan upon produce valued at the market rate, the buyer does stand to gain from the agreement, as, if he would have to go to acquire produce elsewhere, he would have to give a dinar to a broker, and therefore he gains a dinar from the early payment. Rava said to him: The case is one where the buyer also gives the seller the broker鈥檚 fee. Rav Ashi said: There is generally no need to add this fee, as a person鈥檚 dinars serve as a broker for him. One who has ready cash has no need for the services of a broker.,搂 The Gemara addresses a related issue. Rabba and Rav Yosef both say: One who gives money in advance to purchase produce at the advance price that is in effect shortly after the harvest but before the market price is set must present himself at the granary when the seller is threshing his produce.,The Gemara asks: For what reason is he required to be there? If it is in order to acquire the produce, he does not acquire it by merely being present there, as the acquisition is not completed until he pulls the actual produce. And if it is in order for the seller to accept upon himself, in the event that he reneges on the transaction, the curse of: He Who exacted payment from the people of the generation of the flood, and from the people of the generation of the dispersion, will in the future exact payment from whoever does not stand by his statement (see 44a), even if the buyer does not present himself there the seller also accepts upon himself the curse of: He Who exacted payment. This curse is in effect for anyone who reneges on a transaction after the money has been paid.,The Gemara explains: Actually, the reason he must go to the granary is for the seller to accept upon himself the curse of: He Who exacted payment, for the following reason: One who gives money in advance to purchase produce at the advance price gives it to two or three different sellers, in order to ensure that he will collect a profit. Consequently, if he presents himself to the seller when he is threshing his produce, the seller relies upon him, as he knows the transaction will proceed. But if the buyer does not present himself to the seller when he is threshing his produce, the seller could say to him: I said to myself that you must have found better produce than mine, and you took that produce. Since the seller is unsure if the transaction will be completed, he may change his mind and sell to a different buyer.,Rav Ashi said: Now that you have said that the reason is due to the seller鈥檚 relying upon him, it can be concluded that the buyer does not have to go to the seller鈥檚 granary in order to convince him that he intends to uphold the transaction. Rather, even if the buyer finds the seller in the marketplace and says to him that he will not retract his offer to buy the produce, the seller will likewise rely upon him.,搂 Rav Na岣an said: The principle with regard to the halakhot of interest is: Any payment for his waiting, meaning any additional sum added in consideration of the fact that the lender delays claiming his money, is forbidden. And Rav Na岣an also said: In the case of this one who gives money to a wax seller to purchase loaves of wax from him, and loaves of wax go at the current rate of one dinar for four loaves, and the seller said to him: I will give you wax in the future at the rate of five loaves for each dinar if you pay me now in advance, if the seller has wax with him at the time of the transaction, it is permitted to sell at a discounted rate because he is in need of cash. But if the seller does not have wax with him, it is forbidden, as the extra loaf given is interest.,The Gemara asks: Isn鈥檛 this obvious? It is clearly interest. The Gemara answers: No, it is necessary for a case where the seller has credit in the town, and therefore he could receive wax from others. It is necessary lest you say: Since he has credit in the town and could receive wax now, this should be similar to a case where he said: Give me produce until my son comes, or: Until I find the key, and therefore it is permitted to give him money, as this is not considered a loan (see 75a). Rav Na岣an therefore teaches us that since the loaves of wax still lack collection, i.e., the seller does not actually own them, they are considered as though they were not in existence, which means the reduction in price is classified as interest.,And Rav Na岣an said: In the case of this one who borrowed coins from another, and when he later counted them he found an additional amount of money, above the sum they had agreed upon, if the addition was within the range that a person can make a mistake, the assumption is that the lender erred in his calculation, and therefore the borrower is obligated to return the extra coins to him. But if not, if the difference was so large that it could not have been the result of a simple mistake, it must only be that the lender has given him a gift.,The Gemara inquires: What are the circumstances where the additional amount would be within the range that one can make a mistake? Rav A岣, son of Rav Yosef, said: